Andrew Tyrie: Bob Diamond's evidence 'lacked candour'

The chairman of the Treasury Select Committee says Bob Diamond, the former
chief executive of Barclays, "answers fell well short of what
Parliament expects" during its investigation into the Libor
rate-rigging scandal.

In words that are likely to make it difficult for Mr Diamond to hold a senior position in the UK again, the Treasury Select Committee said his evidence “lacked candour”, was “unforthcoming”, and “fell well short of the standard that Parliament expects”.

The criticism was made in a 121-page report into the interest rate rigging scandal that saw Barclays fined a record £290m earlier this year.

The decision to single out Mr Diamond will further damage the reputation of a man who once held sway over the City and pocketed one of its biggest annual pay cheques. Despite his attempt to win favour with the committee by giving up a £19.9m pay-off, MPs decided he had been “highly selective” with his evidence and described his version of events as “inconceivable”.

Mr Tyrie said there needed to "stiffer criminal sanctions, that means getting to a point where people are afraid that if they behave very badly they may find themselves in an orange jumpsuit".

Among its wide-ranging conclusions were that Barclays operated for years with woefully inadequate controls, that senior staff at the bank should have taken action earlier, that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) failed in its duty as regulator to respond to rumours of rate-fixing, and that the Bank of England had been “naive” and “inactive”.